Aka: Hello from New
Zealand! Aotearoa, pronounced "Ow-te-a-roa" (and the
"r" is rolled) and the MEANING of Aotearoa is "The Land of the
Long White Cloud" - COOL, right??
So, fun fact: I wrote
you a REAL letter yesterday that our MTC president here will be sending out for
us. So that's fun! And you'll have to let me know when it gets there...
I'm curious ;)
This whole 18 hours
ahead of you all back home is truly odd. I realized today that I got so
used to converting time from there to here, that it now confuses me to do it
the other way around!
I also apologize in
advance: These computers = no spell check. So, when the typing gets
going quickly, and as my fingers get colder and colder in this room it gets
more difficult.
Thank you for all the
responses to my first email! I feel so loved! And I miss them all
dearly -- give my love! And I definitely believe that their packing was
equivalent to 20+ hours. There's absolutely no way I would have gotten
all the things finished they did that night.
This week has been
INSANE. And it hasn't even been a full week yet. Sister Lott (who
is from Sandy, Utah by the way) and I have definitely already started
acclamating to the weather here--even though we don't really know what the true
weather is like outside this building and the short 45 minutes we get to spend
outside for "sport" (not "gym time" or "exercise"
-- it's "sport" ! Ha!). But whenever we're not in our classroom
or in our dorm, which are both very nicely heated to our liking, we're pretty
much freezing and kind of wimpy. But it's fine. It's still
definitely not as cold as we were making it out to be in our minds --NOT like
the crazy snowy winters we get back home. I'm sure that will change when
we're actually outside all the time, but - c'est la vie. (Is that right?
Let's see how many languages I can get into this email.)
So - back to
RLS. I have mixed emotions of loving being back in a classroom all the
time and learning so many new things, and hating sitting ALL. DAY. LONG.
But it's also been so good. I already feel like I've learned so much, but
also know how much more I'm going to be learning still. I've realized how
truly heaven-sent Preach My Gospel is, because of how it's laid out so
perfectly. Theres sections within sections within sections of
information--which, while it sounds like a lot, it makes it a lot easier to
remember things, and a lot easier on us to realize the important messages we
will be conveying (or- moreso, the messages that the Spirit will be conveying
through us)!
With having sent a
letter yesterday, you may be getting some information twice...but, that's just
because I already can't remember all of what I wrote in that letter.
Yesterday (Sunday for
me) was the most busy, but also most productive Sunday of my entire life.
Truth. We had Sacrament Meeting (in which I spoke), District meeting (a sunday
school-type class), Relief society, a Temple fireside (talking about Thursday
this week when we get to go!!!!), another fireside in which other Elders
and Sisters from my district spoke, and we watched an MTC devotional from
January with Elder Nelson. So much greatness. OH! And we
watched the Joseph Smith Restoration movie. Which I love. And I
also have a question about. I need someone to look up for me if the actor
who plays the oldest version of Hyrum Smith is played by Dallyn Bayles (not
sure on that spelling). Because- it looks a lot like him. And I just...
want to know. Haha. #mylife.
So, here in the MTC we
are given the opportunity to have "investigators" to practice with --
aka: our teachers who act as the investigators. But the thing about these
investigators is the fact that they actually base them on true stories.
They help us follow along what it would truly have been to meet with this
person. Mine and Sister Lott's current investigators are Christine Pule
and Hola (HO-la -- not like how you would say "hello" in spanish)
Pese. They are wonderful, and though we've only met with them both once,
I'm excited to get to know them more. AND to get out of my comfort zone
more and speak.... I did much better with Hola Pese. But, I think too
much - and don't quite know how to make my mind come up with things to say as
quickly as Sister Lott does. But we'll get there. I know that as I
learn to stop worrying so much about what I'm going to say next, and insead
just listening to the things the Spirit is telling me to say, it will become
easier for me to just talk to people. Finding confidence in myself and
confidence in the things that I know I know (ha) is definitely something that I
know I'll be learning here the most. But... that's pretty much once again
#mylife. All the confidence.
Aaand... we now only
have 2 more minutes apparently.
Grandma memory:
One of the many things
I loved about grandma was the fact that she always had something crafty for us
to do. Whether it was making miniature rolls with her so we could have a
tea-party, or making crafty things like paper-weaved-things, or paper lanterns,
or... so many other things (out of the little paper craft book she had -- ASK
KINDRA.) we always were doing something with our hands. And after a long
day of crafting and watching movies and popcorn, she would put us to bed with
Squeaky stories and tickling our backs in that big room with all the windows
:) I love her. I'm going to miss her SO MUCH. But I already
know she's been with me all the time I've been here. I love having this
little ring of hers on my finger each day - and it's already been
noticed.
Life is
beautiful.
Sister Mckenzie Ann Ottley
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